Welcome to the Horth Lab

Ecological Genetics

Conservation Genetics

Human Genetics

Overview:

Dr. Horth's lab has a diverse set of interests with a common theme. In a nutshell, we study the maintenance of genetic variation, and take special interest in rare alleles. We use molecular and classical genetics to assess sensory genes (visual cues, pigmentation genes and pheromones) and to understand more about human disease (human papilloma virus and pectus excavatum).

We try to identify point mutations and gene expression differences that are associated with phenotypic changes in organisms in nature. We can then assess the genetic basis for color variation in fish, birds and flowers. We compare these types of genetic changes to those induced by the environment (e.g. water temperature differences for fish, or amount of exposure to sun versus shade for flowers) to understand more about the genetic versus environmental control of the variation within species that we find on our planet.

We write computer models and simulate the maintenance of genetic variation and rare morphs over long time-scales. We confound these models with factors like global climate change to identify how this alters the maintenance of genetic variants over time.

Education:

University of California, Davis Post-doctoral researcher
University of Virginia, Post-doctoral researcher
Florida State University, PhD
University of Maryland, College Park, MS (Conservation Biology & Sustainable Development) and BS (Microbiology).